Conflict Resolution Family Home Evening

 Hello everyone!  I hope you had a wonderful weekend, and great Mother's Day!  Today I quickly wanted to share a FHE I prepared, that we are actually going to be using tonight...so if its a total flop I apologize in advance ;)  

We could not be more excited for summer at our house, however, there is one thing that happens every summer at my house that drives me crazy.  The fighting!!  The kids seem to get bored easier, annoyed quicker, and it drives me crazy!  To try and combat this yearly craziness I thought we could do a family night addressing different ways to resolve conflict.  First up I found some great information on Pinterest, and put it together on a simple printable we are going to hang up permanently in our family study :)

One by one, we will go through the different ways you can resolve conflict.  Some are pretty simple, like ask for help, share, take turns and apologize.  Laugh means to just find humor in the situation and be able to laugh at yourself.  Chance means to either flip a coin or do rock, paper scissors to make a decision.  Avoid means sometimes there are fights that are just not worth fighting, and its ok to just walk away!  Finally, compromise is where you both give up a little, but you also both get something you are happy with.

Then for our activity we are going to talk about different situations that "bug us", and then decide what tool we can use to resolve that conflict.

I made these cute little bugs that we cut out and taped up on our big chalkboard.

On the back of each bug I wrote down a real-life scenario, something my kids have encountered recently.  The kids can then take turns hitting a bug with a fly swatter, and then taking it off the board, reading the scenario, and finally deciding how they can effectively and kindly resolve the conflict.  Some of the scenarios I used were:

My little sister takes my things without asking

My friends want to jump on the tramp, but I want to ride bikes

I do something silly on accident and everyone laughs at me

I lose my temper and say something mean

You get the idea ;)

To finish off the night we are going to read one of our families favorite books, Enemy Pie.  If you haven't heard of it, I totally suggest it!  It is an awesome story about a boy whose dad helps him find a creative way to resolve his conflict with a neighbor boy.  I love that if focuses on kindness, that is what I really want my kids to try and get out of this FHE.  No matter what, there is always a chance for us to be kind!

Johnson Family Theme 2015!

Hello, hello!  I am so happy to finally be getting another blog post up :)  It seems like no matter how good my intentions are, I just cannot seem to find the time to sit down for a few minutes and compose a few scattered thoughts into a blog post.  However, as soon as I do, I remember how much I enjoy this little place of mine to share a few rambling thoughts and pieces of our lives. 

Today I wanted to share with you what we have chosen to be our Johnson Family Theme of 2015!  (Doesn't that have a nice ring to it?;)

Deciding on a theme turned out to be a really cool experience for my husband and I.  I mentioned that I wanted to pick a theme, and asked him to think and pray about what he thought our family needed this year.  I told him I would do the same, and we went on our separate ways for the day.  That night, before bed, I asked him if he had any ideas that he felt strongly about.  He said that one thing kept coming back to him, that we needed to teach our kids more about SERVICE, and the hymn Because I Have Been Given Much.  The interesting thing was, I had been having similar thoughts, about service but also about different types of giving as well.  I kept having a scripture come to me, where King Lamoni's Father is praying to Heavenly Father in the Book of Mormon and he says "I would give away my sins to know Thee".  From our two thoughts and the guidance of the Spirit we came up with our theme:

 

I just LOVE this theme!  In the short week that we have shared this with our kids we have already seen some great things and small blessing every single day.

 

We introduced our theme on Monday night for Family Home Evening, and did a fun activity to go along with it. 

 

I decided we needed simple ways to help the kids serve in little ways every, single day.  To help them get in that habit, we created a Simple Service Jar! 

 

 

 

All we did was tape this printable around a mason jar and fill it will slips of paper.  On every slip we wrote small, simple acts of service we can do for one another.  They were anything from giving 3 compliments that day to helping mom with the baby while she makes dinner.  Shoveling a neighbors driveway to writing letters to missionaries from our family and ward.  The whole point of this jar to help the kids see that serving can become a way of life, that a little bit of effort on our part can greatly bless the lives of others. 

 

 

I am happy to say we have already pulled 4 or 5 papers out of our service jar when the kids are bored or grumpy, and it really is amazing how doing something kind for someone else can change the attitude and spirit in our home! 

 

Going along with our theme of Giving this year we will be doing monthly service projects and as many other things as I can possibly think of.  Hopefully I will be on top of it enough to share some of those things here ;)  Thank you so much for stopping by and please share: do you do a family theme in your home?  If so...what is your family theme for 2015?!

Primary Balloon Birthday Gifts

 
Happy Monday everyone!  I am still lucky enough to get to serve in our wards Primary as chorister, and we did something new for birthdays I thought I would share today!  These turned out so cute, and when we did them for the first time yesterday the kids seemed to really love them.

I actually saw this cute idea HERE, but I made my own balloon printables to include lyrics from our favorite Primary birthday song.  Once I had my balloons printed and cut out I just taped them to the top of a silly straw and they were ready to go!

 

I just went to my local dollar store and was able to get a six pack of silly straws for $1, not too shabby!  In our ward we also have the kids show their balloon to the bishop after church and he gives them a treat as well. 

 

Feel free to right-click, copy and print away with these balloons and make some Primary Balloon Birthday Gifts of your own! :)

 

 

 

 

Printable Christmas Bingo!

 Man, I am loving the printables this week!  I mentioned yesterday, but it has been FREEZING in our neck of the woods.  This means that I will do just about anything to avoid leaving the house...and it means I am having to find some fun ways to entertain the kids :)

My younger kids, 2 and 4, are both at great ages for playing BINGO.  We played for quite a while, in fact we only stopped because my little guy had to leave for preschool.  And using M&M's doesn't seem to make it any less fun either ;)

If you are looking for a fun, simple activity to do with your kids at home, for a school party, or even Activity Days feel free to print out your own BINGO sheets and calling cards below!

I had some serious trouble figuring out how to do the calling cards...not the best at technology here ;)  Sorry I couldn't get them all on one page, just print out both pages below and you will have all the cards you need to play!

I hope your kiddos love this BINGO game as much as mine did!  Have a wonderful, WARM day! 

Linking up HERE

Printable Christmas PlayDough Mats!

 Happy December everyone!  It is the beginning of the best and busiest month of the year at our house ;)

I promised myself I wouldn't get SO caught up in Christmas prep that I ignored my kids this year, so today I whipped up a few really simple playdough mats that I printed out, laminated and then enjoyed with my kiddos.  They loved decorating the tree and making their own gingerbread man.  I got in on the fun and enjoyed creating accessories for the snowman :)

The fun thing about these playdough mats is that they simply get the creativity flowing, then its fun to see where your kids take it!

Isn't my little guy cute? ;)

Here are the printables if you want one for yourself!  Just right click, save, and print away!  I laminated mine so we could use them again and again, but plain old cardstock would work for a few times too!  

I hope you enjoy these with your kiddos, and thanks so much for stopping by today!!

Happy November {November Re-Cap!}

Happy November everyone!  I am so excited to kick off our month-long celebration of GRATITUDE!  I have all sorts of ideas about how to teach my kids (and myself!) how to have a more grateful heart.  Today I whipped up this printable to serve as our daily reminder...

Right?!

I hope to teach my kids that EVERY day is a great day to be grateful :)

I thought it would be fun to kick off the month sharing a few things we have done in past years to celebrate the month of November!

 

The kids loved making this Fruity Turkey with pears, cantaloupe and grapes.  Super easy and healthy snack for your littles! 

We spent a week doing fun crafts, activities and making snacks all about Indian Corn!

Make sure you check out our Tom the Turkey Family Home Evening as well.  Its a great lesson about learning to control our tempers and even has a darling Turkey Cupcake recipe to go with it ;)

Finally a great way to help your children think and ACT on things they have to be grateful for...Don't be a turkey, give thanks!

There are just a few ideas to get the creative juices flowing!  Make sure you come back next week for some new snacks, crafts and activities to enjoy with your family!

Halloween Subway Art Printable

 Today I'm taking a quick break from our Leaves Week to post a cute Halloween Subway Printable I threw together last night as we put up our spooky decor :)

I love the printables trend...it is so awesome to be able to make something that matches your decor perfectly!  Feel free to right click, save and print for yourselves if you like!

Here's how the finished product looks, we all love it!

Have a great day!

Printable Farm Scavenger Hunt!

 Today we are kicking off Farm Week with some simple printables to make your visit to the farm a little more educational and fun for your kids!

First up I made this printable for my 1st and 3rd graders.  Since they can get a little bored quicker than the younger kids I wanted to encourage them to learn something new :). Next to each animal they wrote down one new fact they learned.  This is also a great way for my girls to practice their writing and spelling. 

For my 2 and 4 year old I wanted something much more simple, so they would just circle each animal as they saw it.  We also talked about what letter each animal starts with and what they say :)

I always try to laminate these and stick them on clipboards to make it as simple as possible :). 

The kids loved their scavenger hunts and I think even learned something new!

Les Miserables Printable!

 

 A few months ago my dear friend, Hollie Hanson from Cherry Tree Photography, came over to my house and took some fantastic shots of our wild and wacky bunch.  Cohen was just a few weeks old, and I was so excited that she was actually able to get a picture of the ENTIRE family in all our glory ;)

I love how intimate and REAL this picture is.  I knew as soon as I saw it that this needed to be blown up, canvased and added to our mantle ASAP!  

Because I adore the colors we used in the pictures, I thought it would be fun to whip up a quick printable to add a little bit to my mantle.  The first thing that came to me was one of my favorite lines from the amazing Les Miserables.  I have loved Les Miserables since I was 10 years old, and the words of Victor Hugo seemed to sum up perfectly the way I feel about these precious people in my life.

Not gonna lie...I'm still searching for a great canvas deal before I print off my fantastic family picture :) BUT...I do have my printable up and I love the sentiment and fun, bright colors it adds to our home. 

Thanks so much for coming by Blue Skies Ahead today, hope you are having a fantastic weekend!!

Sparkler Favors with some Fun 4th Trivia!

 Hello my long lost friends!!

Is anyone still out there?! ;)  I have, once again, fallen off the face of the bloggy planet.  Something interesting happened to me.  

I had a baby :)  And like always, I just jumped right back into life, ready to tackle all the things I had wanted to do while I was laying around on bedrest for 4 weeks.  And you know what?  It was working out really well for me.

Then school got out for summer.

No Bueno.

I finally realized what all those tired, stressed-out moms were talking about!  It has taken me the last month to figure out how in the world to take care of these kids, my husband and myself.  Actually...thats kind of misleading :)  I haven't really figured anything out...I'm just finally feeling like my head is above water and I have a spare moment to get back to doing some fun things with my family...and actually taking the time to blog about them!

So today I am jumping back into it with a really fun Sparkler Favor you could use for your 4th parties or just for fun!  I am using them for my Activity Day girls.  The cool thing about this favor is not only will the kids love the sparklers....but they may learn a little something too!

Sparkler Favors with some Fun 4th Trivia!

To make these cute favors I just got 2 sparklers, rolled them up in a darling striped snack bag from Pick Your Plum, and tied them with some bakers twine.

Then I printed out this fun little tag I made up with some interesting 4th of July trivia your kids will love.  Heck...I loved it!  That's some interesting stuff!!

I found all these fun facts HERE

Just a quick, simple favor to add to the fun of the day and learn a little something too!!

Thank you so much for stopping by today, it feels great to be back!  I can't promise when I will post again, but I am hoping to get back on some sort of schedule ;)

King Benjamin Family Home Evening {Following the Prophet}

 Hello everybody!!

It took me a few months, but we finally got back to our scheduled FHE's, picking up where we left off in the Book of Mormon.  This week we learned all about King Benjamin and the things he taught his people.  We also used it as an opportunity to review one of my favorite talks from General Conference, and encourage the our family to strive harder to follow the prophet.

We started off with this fun printable I threw together.

Haha!  I know, the Keep Calm signs are totally overdone...but I still thought it was cute :)

Then we read the story of King Benjamin from the Book of Mormon Stories.  We really tried to focus on some of the specific things King Benjamin taught his people, like teaching them of the coming of the Savior, teaching the parents to help their children learn to be obedient and to not argue, and teaching them to serve.  We spent a few minutes talking about how as the people listened, they felt the Holy Ghost in their hearts confirming the truthfulness of these teachings.  Because of that feeling...they NO longer wanted to sin!  We talked about how we should be striving to feel that way, not only NOT sinning....but losing all desire to as well.

Then we talked about how back then, the families had to come all the way to King Benjamins tower to hear him speak and teach.  They came in their tents and turned them toward the King.  I told the kids we were going to be as the Nephites...and turn our tent toward one of our modern day prophets, and hear what we needed to be taught.

I think its time for a new/bigger tent! ;)

The kids all piled in and we pulled up Elder Scott's talk from the last General Conference.  It is entitled For Peace at Home...and it was one of my favorites!  I loved how he spoke to the children, and listed specific things we need to be doing to have a Christ-centered home...the true way to have peace.

After a long day of fighting, grumpiness and exhaustion from ALL of us, I am always searching for ways to have just a little bit more peace :)

After the talk we discussed how important it is to follow the prophets.  And the only way you can follow what they say...is if you KNOW what they have taught.  We talked about the importance of gaining a testimony of the prophet...and once you have it, to sustain him not ONLY with your hand...but with your actions as well.

Honestly, this was one of our tougher family nights.  The baby was screaming, the two-year old thought it was hilarious to run and jump on the outside of the tent squishing everyone inside, and the 8 year old was crying about her sunburn :)  

BUT!

The next morning the kids were fighting and Britton said..."Don't you remember what we learned last night?!  We aren't supposed to fight...the prophet said!" :)  So maybe, just MAYBE, its sort of working a little bit somehow :)